RANGERS manager was joined by 1000 mourners including Sir Alex Ferguson and Billy McNeill at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh.

ALLY McCOIST last night paid tribute to Sandy Jardine as his rock – after seeing him laid to rest amid tears of sadness and laughter.

The Rangers manager was one of 1000 mourners who turned out yesterday to say goodbye to the man who played almost 800 games for the club and served them on and off the park for more than half a century.

And he said later he believed he would never have got through the club’s financial woes without his friend Sandy at his side.

Quietly spoken Sandy, who lost his 18-month battle with cancer last week at 65, had stood shoulder to shoulder with McCoist as Rangers plunged into crisis two years ago.

The Ibrox boss said last night: “He was the biggest shoulder I had to lean on when we went through the trauma of administration and liquidation. I don’t know if I would have got through it without Sandy’s help. I really mean that.

“He was a great listener, very experienced and clever. He understood the club.

“For me, Sandy will be up there with Bill Struth when it comes to genuine Rangers men who gave everything they had for the club.

“He was associated with our football club for more than 50 years and he cared passionately about it.

McCoist, 51, believes Jardine’s legend status was cemented two years ago when he led a march on Hampden to protest at the SFA’s treatment of Rangers.

“I can still see him on the steps of Hampden,” he said. “It was incredible, how he galvanised the support.

“He thought the club he loved was being mistreated. He felt the club and the fans had to make a point and he took it upon himself to be the leader.

“To think 10,000 people followed him through the city still gives me goosebumps. He was like the Pied Piper.

“He was an incredibly humble man.

The funeral of Scottish football legend Sandy Jardine

“On that occasion, though, he knew the fans needed a leader. He did that.”

McCoist last met Sandy just a few days before the former defender, who was capped 38 times for Scotland, died.

He said: “I was pretty sure it was going to be the last opportunity I would have to see him. It was incredibly difficult and sad. He was so unwell.

“But the class and dignity he had all his life remained with him all the way through his illness and right to the end.

“The family has been unbelievable.

“Sandy’s wife Shona has been an inspiration with the way she has handled everything in the last 18 months since Sandy became ill.

“She’s a very dignified, strong lady and they are a special close-knit family.”

Football greats including Sir Alex Ferguson and Celtic legend Billy McNeill were among the mourners at Mortonhall Crematorium in Edinburgh yesterday. And McCoist said the impressive turnout underlined just what Sandy meant to the people who knew him.

“It was a fantastic turnout,” he said. “The likes of Sir Alex took the time to attend.

“And while you would expect many Rangers people, the fact men like Billy McNeill, Davie Hay and Danny McGrain were there – genuine Celtic legends – shows the regard in which Sandy was held by everybody.

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Ally with Rangers players at the funeral of Scottish football legend Sandy Jardine

“Sandy’s mate Davie Ross did the eulogy and pitched it perfectly.

“It was sad, of course it was. But it was laced with humour and everyone was laughing as he recalled how the two of them got tickets for the 100m Olympic final in London a couple of years ago.

“They were right on the finishing line as Usain Bolt burst through the tape and Sandy turned to Davie and said, ‘I’d have taken him 40 years ago!’

“Davie was his best mate and it wasn’t easy for him but he handled it really well.

“He got the congregation to sing My Way at the end of the service because that was the song Sandy would sing whenever he was hauled up to do karaoke. It was a celebration of Sandy’s life, while being a terribly sad occasion.”